This invention relates to an improved strike indicator for fly fishing which is simple to manufacture, lightweight, and frictionally adjustable along a fly-fishing leader or line.
In fly fishing, the line and leader provide the weight required for casting a fly, and any additional weight if added changes the casting characteristic of the fly line. Conventional "bobbers" are generally not used in fly fishing because of the weight limitation imposed by the above constraint. It is an essential requirement for a fish strike indicator that the weight of the indicator be compatible and in balance with the weight of the fly line and the leader.
Fly fishermen also often use a wet fly which sinks after the fly is cast into water. Whenever a fish takes a fly, the fish will attempt to spit out the fly abruptly once the fly is in its mouth. A fish strike indicator is used to alert a fisherman, during the short interval a fish has a fly in its mouth, that a fish has taken the fly so that the fisherman can set the hook. The problem is to provide a visible indicator for the fisherman while at the same time keeping the indicator sufficiently small and lightweight to match the characteristics of the fly line and leader. Heavier fishing rigs have for years used casting bubbles, or "bobbers", to alert a fisherman that a fish has struck a lure, but this type of equipment is almost useless in fly fishing because of the weight problem.
Certain techniques have traditionally been used to provide lightweight and visible strike indicators, but the indicators so provided are usually not adjustable along a fly leader. One technique often used is to color the tip of a fly line for a few inches just before the attachment with the leader to make the fly line more visible. The disappearance of the colored portion of the line indicates a strike. Another technique is to use highly visible tape attached to the leader to provide the strike indication. But, neither of these techniques provide an indicator easily adjustable along a leader.
A casting bubble of the type which might be used on a heavier fishing rig and one that is adjustable is illustrated in Bondhus U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,176. This patent illustrates a device which has a resilient tube enclosed in a rigid shell wherein the resilient tube can frictionally grip a leader passing through the center of the tube. This type of casting bubble, which can be adjusted along the leader, requires that a fisherman twist a plug at one end of the casting bubble to change the frictional force between the casting bubble and the leader. As the components of such a casting bubble are made small enough to be useful in fly fishing, however, the problem of manipulating such small components so as to adjust the frictional force between the casting bubble and the leader becomes an increasingly difficult task for a fisherman.
A strike indicator which is lightweight and adjustable in position along the leader, but one which grips the leader with enough frictional force to remain fixed during subsequent fly casts, is still needed. The improved fish strike indicator according to the present invention is simple to manufacture, is light in weight so as to not disturb the casting characteristics of a fly line and leader and is easily adjustable along a leader. Further, the indicator has sufficient gripping strength to remain in position on the leader even during the casting process. This indicator is formed so as to not require manipulation of components to adjust the gripping strength between the indicator and the leader, and is sufficiently small and supple to pass through the guides of a fly-fishing rod as the line, the leader, and the strike indicator are reeled in for transport or storage.